How to Train Your Dragon: Still Hurts

Hiding The Truth From You

It was the afternoon and Hiccup was lying his head on his desk, closing his eyes. Despite knowing he had quite a lot of chief work to do, he couldn't do it. The memories of Stoick, all the way to his passing was too much for him. But he didn't want to say anything about it. He's got an island to take care of, so he couldn't. 

But the visions. The memories. That dream. 

"If only you had listen to you, I would still be alive!"

"I'm sorry!"

"It's not my fault." he whispered. "It's not. It's not. ......Is it? Is it my fault? I tried,....but dad warned me. He told me. He told me. And....I didn't listen."

Suddenly, he heard a knock, which caused him to lift his head pretty quickly. He turned around and saw that it was only Astrid, standing near the open door.

"Sorry if I interrupted you." she said, smiling.

Hiccup let out a big sigh, since the knock really scared. "No, no. It's OK. Just...don't sneak up on me like that." he mentioned as he turned to face his desk again.

Astrid walked up to him, overlooking at his desk. "Wow. You got a lot of stuff to do."

"Yeah, don't mention." Hiccup remarked.

"You need any help with it?" she asked.

"No thank you. I got this." he said as he picked up one of the papers on the desk, reading it. 

"Hey, Hiccup?"

"Yeah?" he said, still looking at the paper. 

"Could you turn around and face me quickly?" Her request was somewhat weird to Hiccup, but he placed the paper down and turned to face her, who was standing next to him. She kneeled down a bit so they were level with each other. She placed both her hands on his face, moving it about to get a closer look. 

"Hiccup, did...did you sleep last night?" she asked with concern in her voice. 

Hiccup looked at her with shook, before he smiled. "No, I...I did." But the truth was, he didn't. After he woke up from the dream, or nightmare, he couldn't go back to sleep. He had tried to, but every time he closed his eyes, he came back to that dream. It was as if the dream was waiting for him, so that it can continue to torment him. 

Or continue to tell him the truth.

"Are you sure you slept?" Astrid asked, not really convinced with Hiccup's answer. 

"I'm sure." Hiccup assured her. 

She then sighed. "OK, then." She got up from kneeling. "Listen, Hiccup. Don't feel like you have to hide things from anyone. If anything is bothering you, you can tell me or your mum or anyone. Heck, even Ruffnut and Tuffnut!" Hiccup smiled at the sentence. "But seriously, don't hide it from us, please. OK?"

Hiccup nodded. "OK. Thanks, Astrid."

"Not a problem." she answered. She gave a kiss before heading out the door. "Well, I'll let you do your thing, as I too have things to attend to."

"Like what?" Hiccup asked, as he picked up another piece of paper. 

Astrid turned around in confusion. "Don't tell me you forgot about the Snoggletog Festival." Hiccup just stared at her before slowly nodding his head. She sighed. "You're lucky it starts at the evening. See you later, Hiccup." And with that, she headed out his room. 

Hiccup was in silence now. No one around. Only the many papers that were in front of him. He didn't really forget about the festival, but he didn't want to think about it too much. He placed the paper he had in his hand on the desk before lying his head on it again. 

He wanted to close his eyes, to catch some last minute sleep. But he couldn't. Because he knew that dream would be there. It would still be there, no matter what. 

"I wish it could go away." he thought. "That it could just leave me alone. But it won't. It's telling me...the truth. I should have listen. I should have! And now he's...." Tears started to fall. He buried his head behind his arms. 

"He's gone because of me."